Temporal Collapse
| setting=Spherus Magna| date=1,010 AGC| pre=Shadow Regime| next=None}} Temporal Collapse is a collection of Gigas Magna storyline short stories set on Spherus Magna after its reformation. Story Prologue Jetrak stood at the front of his tiny wooden boat. Ice-cold blue saltwater splashed onto his feet. He was technically team leader, but the six other Toa under his command had served as a team their entire lives as Toa, so the leader of that team continued to order his Toa around. He heard the noise of thunder booming and looked up at the sky, completely covered with black clouds, only with a slight blue tinge from the constant lighting. However, he soon had to look down, as a torrential downpour began burning his eyes with the sheer force of the water. It seemed fitting that the weather be so ominous around the Brotherhood of Fear headquarters; the only thing he was worried about was that it was a bad omen. Jetrak didn’t used to believe in luck, omens, or superstition, but after knowing Leviathos as long as he had, who wouldn’t? “Now!” yelled Jetrak. Immediately, the boat hit the shore of the Brotherhood of Fear’s main base. The Toa jumped from the boat; a sound resonated as their metallic feet struck the rocky ground. However, the sound was quickly drowned out by the sound of battle. ---- After walking through many bleak hallways filled with the roar of the fight outside, two robed and hooded beings made their way through a near silent hallway. It was a standard grey-silver metal from floor to ceiling, a sign they were on the prison level, and the only sounds were those of their footsteps and of the guard’s weapons being twirled in their hands up ahead. “You stay back,” said the first one. He then proceeded forward, while adjusting his hood so only a slight green appeared from under it. “Halt!” commanded the first guard. “I need identification!” “Not recognizing your own master! Why, I’m insulted! This will reflect on your record,” spat the robed being. “Look, we just need some proof...” “Let me through,” cut in the being. “I’m sorry, but...” “That’s an order!” yelled the being, his voice angrily rising. “If you’re really Necuas, then give us your ID.” “Insubordination! Report the other three idiots to Krakanus at once,” he said to no one in particular. “I will vouch for the first one there.” At this, all four Toa of Shadow ran for a holo-transmitter. “Brother, it is safe to come out,” said the first being, after checking to make sure that the guards were out of earshot. “I’ll keep watch; you go get the troops." “No. You’re the warrior. They will prefer you as a leader,” replied the second one. “Brother, you are a natural leader. They will trust their lives with you, as I would mine,” he said, putting a comforting hand on his cloaked shoulder. “Fine,” replied the second being, who walked into the prison floor that contained only one species, one that had killed Makuta for years, and if they had been Rahi, would have been considered the Makuta’s natural predator, as they were for the Kodax thousands of years before. “Hey, way to treat your guards!” heckled a prisoner. “My guards?” replied the being, who then removed his hood… ---- Jetrak stood in the heat of battle, yet he wondered why risk this all to kidnap Kaluu. Although a key asset to the Brotherhood, it would seem like Krakanus would be a better target. Well, whatever it was, Leviathos was probably right about something. Then he got a call on his holo-transmitter. ---- “Brother, now is the time,” said Chameleo in a hushed voice, pointing at the guards. Iguantius jumped in and engaged the first guards. His Reptisapean troops followed, while Chameleo snuck into Kaluu’s private chambers. ---- Kaluu sat in silence, watching monitors mounted on his walls. Every once in a while he would issue an order, and go back to watching the battles. First the inner gate, now his makeshift throne room, what was next? The whole fortress itself? For the first time in thousands of years, Kaluu was truly stressed. His Obsidian Throne already had dents and scratches from his constantly tapping fingers. Krakanus left him in charge for two days, and a full assault on his fortress had begun. Prisoners had already escaped. He pondered, What could possibly have gone worse? But his question were answered by the arrival of a hooded Reptisapean. “Hello, Kaluu.” “Guards!” “I assure you, they are of no help to you now.” Kaluu lunged, but the Reptisapean hit him with a blast of Acid, knocking him off course. Kaluu returned with a blast of Shadow to his face, temporarily blinding Chameleo. He then fired his heat vision, but Chameleo got lucky and dodged. As his vision recovered, he realized that Kaluu had a moment of weakness, so he activated his Absorption power to drain Kaluu’s energy. The Makuta made one last desperate lunge, which the Reptisapean sidestepped with ease. Kaluu froze, just for a moment, but it was too late; the fight was over. Chameleo tossed a grenade-like object under Kaluu’s feet. It exploded with energy, trapping Kaluu in a stasis field. He then removed a personal Olmak generator from his belt and opened a portal. He sent one final transmission to Jetrak and Iguantis: “Fall back! I have the target and am extracting him, Chameleo out.” ---- A single entity stood staring at Leviathos in his mind, watching him. This was as he had been doing for the whole of Leviathos’s life. “Think you defy us, do you?” said the being to the air around him. “Think you’re a god now?” he said, anger creeping into his voice. “Well, let's see how you would like to fight a real god,” said the Great Being. He opened his eyes. After a moment, they changed colors as he phased into a mode that let him control and see the space-time continuum. He began dropping a poison-like substance into different spots. He chuckled as it slowly diffused like blood in water. However he hesitated over one spot. No, he thought. I will leave one to witness the results of his "brothers..." The Beginning of the End “But, sir…” started one of Leviathos’s Toa Hagah. “That’s an order, Toa!” replied Leviathos, cutting him off. “Yes, sir!” yelled all six Toa as they drew their weapons, ready to protect Leviathos at any cost. This would be his final stand, in a small cramped cave, filled with the overpowering smell of saltwater, but to the Toa, this site was as sacred as the home of the Great Beings themselves. “They’re closing in!” yelled Jetrak from quite a distance. Leviathos’ hands glowed with spatial power as he transformed his energy into a crystal. The room was illuminated with the cyan glow of Leviathos’s power, which mixed with red flames from the torches of his enemies. He heard the sounds of the battle, but he was too focused on the crystal to pay attention to any thing else. He felt weak. It was almost over when a Skraaki jumped at him, and would have beheaded him if it weren’t for his Toa. A split second later, he collapsed. The crystal discharged a shockwave and disappeared. The power wave knocked over all the fighters on both sides. Chameleo jumped to his feet and ran to Leviathos, removing a Kraahkan from his backpack. His silver claw glowed green as it absorbed the power of the mask; he then put a hand on Leviathos’s shoulder and transferred the shadow energy to him. With the sudden burst of shadow power, he used a shadow hand to absorb a parallel form of himself. Their overly similar minds collided, and with one last use of his life force, Leviathos forced all of his memory into the other being's mind, then jumped into a pool of energized protodermis and died. The new Leviathos, who had come from the Oceaus Magna universe, woke from the dream of what had just happened. He reflected on what had happened; although he was not the real Leviathos, he now shared all the memories that made the real one who he was. He also realized that while he was in Leviathos’s mind, he saw memories that not even Leviathos knew he had. Memories of where he stood now, Spherus Magna. He stood up and looked around. Green, lush plants and jungle grew all round him. However, something silver caught his eye; he stopped to investigate it. Before him sat a motorized vehicle. He hopped on, revved the controls, and zoomed off. The sound of the engine and smell of exhaust filled the air. He looked down at the silver control panel to see a navmarker set. He tried to change it, but the system was locked, so he decided to follow the route. He roared to a halt as he reached the destination. He dismounted. He was just outside of the ruined city of Atero. As he walked in, he noticed Skrall patrols, so he hid, slowly making his way through the ruined desert that had once stood as a symbol of peace. He paused in front of the arena. It looked similar, only different. There was a mechanized hum coming from inside, and metal lined the windows. He stepped in to see Kaluu plotting with a being he identified as a rogue Skrall warlord. Machinery lay everywhere, with one of the most advanced technological set-ups he had ever seen; yet the building still had its original desert/Glatorian arena look. He charged in wildly, ready to kill the two beings. Both looked up, but Chameleo blocked Leviathos’ path and put a hand on his shoulder. “Relax. They’re with us now,” assured the Reptisapean. “But…” “Welcome to the Society of the Kraahkan headquarters,” piped up Kaluu. “I was only joking when I suggested that name, you know,” mumbled Chameleo under his breath. “But what can you expect from a Makuta?” “Society of the Kraahkan?” questioned Leviathos. “Yes, the name comes from him,” said the Skrall, pointing at Kaluu “And the only reason you're alive,” he finished, pointing at a mounted display of a Kraahkan. “So who’s in command here?” pried Leviathos, hoping that it was neither the Skrall nor the Makuta. “You,” grumbled Kaluu regretfully. “In that case, what are you planning?” asked Leviathos. “An assault on the Brotherhood of Fear base,” said the Skrall, slamming his fist on the table with a resonating boom. “They're here?” asked Leviathos, shocked. “Yes. They’ve made an alliance with the Great Being that has been messing with the fabric of space-time. But that’s what we’re here for,” said Chameleo. ---- Krakanus spun a coin through his fingers, a nervous habit he hadn’t had in years. But he had every reason to be nervous; after all this was war. The door opened, illuminating the room made entirely of a black stone imported from the Black Spike Mountains. As it closed, torchlight became the only form of light present in the chamber. Once again, the Skrall leader sat opposite Krakanus and next to a massive Great Being, who sat at the head of the table. “You're late,” said Teridax irritably. The Mask of Life glowed red from the flames, mixed with his deep red eyes. “Don’t mind him,” said the Shadowed One, who sat on the other side of Tuma. “He’s just upset because he’s been reduced to working with that traitor,” finished the Shadowed One, pointing at Krakanus with his staff “Enough,” said the Great Being. “We will crush them regardless. Then Spherus Magna will be ours. Krakanus, have you finished the project?” “While it worked and could be replicated, one of my agents went rogue, and the test subject escaped to the deserts,” said Krakanus. “I see,” replied the Great Being. ---- A lone Agori walked through the desert portion of Spherus Magna. It was dark at night, and nothing obscured his path from the Brotherhood’s base. He felt cold. Sand splashed over his feet as he progressed. He had escaped when the rogue Makuta blew up half of the base; but it would be rebuilt, he was sure. The high council contained the wealthiest and most powerful criminals in the universe. They had experimented on him somehow, but he didn’t know how or why. He had a new, mutated face, but that was the only result he knew of so far. He figured that they had infused his essence with something else; he looked like a Spikit, and he was mad. He saw a light at the ruins of Atero and saw a Skrall. “Leave now, Agori!” bellowed the greater being. “Leave him alone,” said a hooded being behind him “Fine,” grumbled the guard, and left. “Do you know who I am?” asked Leviathos, removing his hood. “N... no. Sh... sh... should I?” he asked nervously, stuttering from fear of more abuse. “Figures. But I know you,” said Leviathos. “Really?” asked the being. “Not fully, but I know of you and of what has been done to you,” replied Leviathos. “What?” demanded the being. “This is not the place,” said Leviathos. “Now, let's go inside,” he finished, lowering his hood and leading the way back in. ---- Four beings walked out of a barely-lit throne room, leaving the Great Being alone. None of them have the mental capabilities to complete my plan, thought Sunakark to himself. “Now, are you going to talk to me, or did you call me here as a joke?” asked a being, de-cloaking himself. “How long have you—?” “Since the beginning of your meeting. I figured if you contacted me personally, and went behind the backs of your organization, you probably have something to hide from them.” “Very well,” said the Great Being angrily “I need you to... retrieve... a couple of things for me.” ---- “What did they do to me?” demanded the Agori. “Calm down, little one,” said Leviathos, who was not quite used to the parallel form's identity, considering that in his own universe he would have been interrogating the Agori, who would also be strung up by a piece of seaweed. “They preformed a mutation to make you more like a Matoran.” “What? Why?” “To make a new kind of warrior.” “But we are better fighters than those Matoran!" “Yes, but you don’t have elemental powers, and you don't turn into Toa, now, do you?” finished Leviathos, who then left the room to give the Agori time to think. ---- An hour later, Leviathos reentered the dull steel sleeping quarters for the Agori. "Have you decided yet?" asked Leviathos "I'm going with you, but just know I'm going for revenge." ---- Krakanus made his way through the marble interior of the fortress. The choice for the stone had been based on personal experience, but now that did not matter. Sunakark had called their equivalent of a Convocation, and he was late. He walked up to the main room, two looming steel doors in front of him. He looked to his left and right, noticing the large red stains on the walls from an assassination attempt on the high council's lives the other day. He reached forward to push the doors open, but realized his left arm was still a burned off little stub. He cursed Nightwatcher and walked in, expecting the same lack of technical lighting used in the room, but was shocked to see a full lighting system as well as computer-based command controls had been installed overnight. He also would normally have been shocked by the fact that the table used for decision-making had been replaced by the obsidian throne Kaluu had used, but that could wait because three bodies lay on the floor, with Sunakark, a bounty hunter, and a Skrall assassin standing over them. "What have you done?" demanded Krakanus. "Preserved our best interests... brother," bellowed the demon-like being. Arrival There was a loud crash as a small canister smashed a hole in the side of the now deactivated Mata-Nui robot. The canister, accelerating to near-unachievable speeds through the waters of the outside planet, made its way to a large island. There was a lurch as it skidded to a halt on the sandy shores of an island beach, there was the accompanying hiss of the airlock release, then the top spun and lifted off allowing a strange-looking reptilian being to emerge from its hull. He clambered out with the awkward speed of a lizard, and on to the strange shore, he winced having not seen the sun in three days had overly sensitized his eyes, he waited a moment until his vision became clear and the pain ceased, and he took a moment to take in his surroundings. Besides the sand and rock there appeared to be an abundance of vegetation just a few meters from where he stood, with trees grown tall fanning out tremendous green leaves providing shade for a strange looking fruit baring plant below. The being casually walked to one of the plants, and drew his excuse for a knife, a black handle barely holding a dull rusted blade together, none the less it was sharp enough to cut the vine supporting the orange-red fruit. He began slide his blade back and forth in a sawing motion until eventually the fruit fell to the ground with a snap as he broke the vine. He reached down and picked up the fruit and took a large bite out of it. Chewing it diligently he discovered a sweet flavor flood into his mouth, he went for another bit when a strong hand grabbed his shoulder firmly. He ripped the beings arm off his shoulder and turned to fight his adversary, but before he could throw a clawed punch a metal object collided with his face and he fell to the floor unconscious. ---- The sounds of explosions, cries of pain, gunshots, and metal clashing on metal could be herd all the way up into the throne of the Brotherhood of Fear’s fortress. A shocked Krakanus stood wide-eyed unsure of what to do next, “Why spare me?” questioned Krakanus curiously “Because you are the one who can achieve my plans, not those pathetic fools who honestly believed they had a shot at ruling this world, that my goal was to conquer the worthless refuge of the great beings and their reject creations. No my goal is much grander, I want the universe from which I came, and the vast power hidden within.” ---- A lone makuta walked through the golden hallways of his palace, large windows with gold tinted glass amplified the grandness of his monument to himself, looking up at the ceiling he laughed as he recalled the multitudes of battles he had won displayed by the intricate gold-silver swirls in the ceiling. He walked down a staircase to the silver room made for his prisoners, even that room was created to flaunt his immense wealth to his enemies. As he walked down he was noticed by the newest edition to his “prison” who was looking around, confused as to why anyone would waste the money to make a silver prison with diamonds and other rare gemstones as the cells. The makuta stopped and looked at the being, “So I hear you were caught stealing from one of my plantations,” he said firmly “who are you and why are you here.” “Well for one thing my name is Gektann, and I honestly have no Idea why the karzanhi I’m here.” “Gektannnsounds…” “Skaadi, I know I was captured by Skaadi slave traders I didn’t speak their language so the gave me the name, just kinda stuck.” He said nonchalantly “That doesn’t explain why you were stealing from my plantation, and if you don’t know why you’re here than what did you do before you came here?” said tension rising in his voice “I didn’t know it was your plantation genius,” he said as if there was no other possible explanation, “and why the karzanhi should tell you my life story” “Because I can remove your organs very slowly and painfully.” the Makuta responded flipping out a knife. “I care” Replied Gektannn sarcastically “You got some nerve kid, who do you think you are Mata-Nui” “No just a run away slave turned ex-bounty hunter who’s looking for revenge on a legendary mask wearing near immortal being who ‘s been lying to me my entire life. Did I mention I really hate being lied to?” “Did you say bounty-hunter?” intrigued “Ex-bounty-hunter.” Corrected Gektannn defiantly. “So you know a good job offer when you here one right?” “Yes?” He said irritated at the rhetorical question wasting his time. “Then I have a deal for you. If you help my good friends at Xia Unlimited than I’ll find this being your looking for.” “Done” said Gektannn interested. Shadow Games Krakanus stood in on the bloodied floor of what used to be the meeting room for the leadership of an alliance of armies now there were three, well maybe two krakanus could have sworn he saw the shadowed one make a pained attempt to move his eye at one point, but he decided not to bring it to the massive being relaying his plans for absolute power to him. “I see…” said Krakanus shaking from the shock he had experienced “Excellent, now go and gather my armies” he said turning to order the two beings standing next to him. Without a word they sprung down the stairs to carry out his will. A thought flashed through the mind of the disturbed makuta, that despite the fact that they were parallel versions of each other, Sunakark was the one giving orders, and for the first time in ages. Krakanus felt the all-too-familiar feeling that caused him to leave the Brotherhood of Makuta in the first place, the feeling of being a pawn. “No” was the faint whisper of a word he managed to force out “What?” said Sunakark turning around while raising a huge eyelid “No” said Krakanus, shaking with fear as he thrust his spear forward into the being’s stomach, he felt his shadow flow through him into his staff and then discharging in to Sunakark’s massive body. He responded with clawed fist to the makuta’s face sending him sprawling to the ground, eyebeams burst up from the floor searing a hole in the being’s armor. Krakanus made a move to stand up while blasting Sunakark’s face but a golden glow flowed from his hand freezing Krakanus in his place. He moved in to finish him, when the room turned dark all light extinguishing with the sound of air sliding past wings, pain shot through Sunakark’s body as Kaluu rapidly stabbing him with his claws, allowing Krakanus to regain movement. He snatched Kaluu in his large claw tightening his grip until the makuta’s armor began to give way. Krakanus knocked the massive being’s leg out from under him, forcing him to drop Kaluu. As soon as he hit the ground Krakanus unleashed his shadow hand absorbing Sunakark, taking their battle into the realm of his their minds Before Krakanus could react he felt the over-whelming will of the other being invade his mind, pulling through memories and thoughts while planting his own false concepts, Krakanus, unable to repulse the attack, retaliated with one of his own pushing through his opponents mental barriers to find a memory of an event thousands of ears old. While Krakanus sifted through the beings mind he could feel his own slowly being destroyed by the other being, but he found what he was looking for and put all of his reaming mental strength into the memory this one memory, until Sunakark could do nothing but relieve the fear and agony of that day, now Krakanus struck attacks the other beings mind and crushing his will. When it was done Krakanus opened his eyes to see the blood filled command room, turning his head he saw kaluu who had saved his life merely moments ago. “Kaluu, you escaped” he said happily at the return of his faithful servant “No,” said Kaluu feeling sorry for Krakanus’s lack of understanding “I joined up with them but came here to save you, because for some reason, I still feel a trace of loyalty to you. But I’m done,” he said his tone changing “done taking orders, especially from you, I’m done saving you, and most all I’m done fighting for causes I don’t care about, from this day on, I stand alone.” He unfurled his wings and jumped through the window and out to the storm filled sky surrounding the dark fortress. Gliding through the air the bird-like makuta made his way to a secluded island with a large building casting a shadow over its normally sunny coast. ---- He descended perching on the bars of a window peering in, three mangled bodies of matoran guards were visible as well as a headless Noctian. He fired a sonic scream shattering the glass then sliced the bars with his protested claws, he crept slowly through the factory, two of the matoran clutched weapons while the other held a writing utensil and lay only a few inches from a desk and blood stained chair. All of the drawers had been pulled out, there contents scattering the cold steel ground of the room. The noctian was slouched against a wall next to a puddle that could only be his disintegrated head, Kaluu felt uneasy the bounty-hunter he was seeking relied on plasma weapons hence the Noctian but the matoran were a different story, broken bones, stabbed wounds, and claw marks, they were all killed by hand a method not commonly used by the gangly bounty hunter he was looking for. This meant a third being had broken in as well complicating his plan. Still he pushed open a a wood door to reveal a cross of four hallways stained with blood and other gore he cared not to identify. Looking to the hallway right of him he found footprints on the walls leading to a Noctian with a broken neck, another covered with stab wounds a small knife sticking into his head, and finally a toa his rifle thrown across the hall, lay against a way covered in bruises and broken armor with a smashed in mask and fracture skull. Kaluu couldn’t help but grimace at the prospect that the third being had beaten the toa to death with his bare fists. Continuing he found the door left ajar by the intruder, he activated his power of camouflage and continued in sneaking through the door he saw a storage room littered with paper and emptied storage containers, a lone reptilian being stood searching through drawers discarding the contents after a brief search, he picked out a scroll and unrolled it revealing blueprints for a weapon of some sorts, a grin emerging on the beings face he shoved the scroll into a bag containing another four like it he began walking away when Kaluu saw a light blink on out of the corner of his eye causing him to turn his head revealing a series of explosives attached to the wall, startled he jumped backwards ruffling a few discarded papers. The being swirled around to find the source of the noise, he moved his head back and forth at one point pausing to stare directly at Kaluu’s camouflaged body then he lunged at wall de-cloaking the green bounty-hunter Kaluu had been looking for. The two rolled on the ground for a while trading blows until the smaller being kicked the reptile off of him while drawing his plasma weapons. “Why are you here?” he asked holding one level with his head “I could ask you the same thing.” replied the being “I will kill you, if you don’t answer the question” Said the bounty hunter inraged “No, you won’t,” replied Kaluu de-cloaking and walking into the room. The bounty hunter tried to point the other one at Kaluu but he felt them fly out of his hands and into the makuta’s. Kaluu raised both weapons holding them level with the two’s heads. “I will.” Category:Gigas Magna Storyline